Peace Sells by Megadeth. War Pigs by Black Sabbath.
this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2026
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If you like hip hop at all, What's Peace? off the new Statik Selektah album had some great lines. Some gems for me:
What's peace? Is it locking up people like me For selling weed, but then you go and let a pedophile free? Is it Capitalism or privatizing the prisons Or giving corporations freedom to poison food that we eat?
...
That's why I get the skeevies knowing Stevie's pulling strings Take a look inside the cabinet, see it's clearly Miller time You got a lion in your pocket, you lying You got a long line of far-right conservative actors going on Grindr
...
How insecure you gotta be to pretend Christ was White? And hate those that look like what Christ really looked like? They call you Marxist, Socialist and Commie They hate you if you Haitian or Somali They blaming 9/11 on Mamdani
Grandson's most recent album (INERTIA) is really good. Violence by Kid Kapichi is a banger too. WHO'S THE ENEMY from Grandson is very very good and has Bob Vylan on it.
Burn the house down by AJR https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UnyLfqpyi94
Used to keep it cool.
Used to be a fool.
All about the bounce in my step.
Watch it on the news.
Whatcha gonna do?
I could hit refresh and forget.
Used to keep it cool.
Should I keep it light?
Stay out of the fight?
No one's gonna listen to me.
If I write a song.
Preaching what is wrong.
Will they let me sing on TV?
Should I keep it light?
Is that right?
Way up way up we go.
Been up and down that road.
Way up way up, oh no.
We gon' burn the whole house down.
Watch me stand in the line.
You're only serving lies.
You've got something to hide.
We gon' burn the whole house down.
We gon' burn the whole house down.
Yeah, used to let it go.
Walk into the show.
Gawking at the tricks up your sleeve.
Too good to be true.
But I'm in a room.
Full of entertainers and thieves.
Used to let it go.
Woah, oh no.
(Woah, oh no).
Way up way up we go.
Been up and down that road.
Way up way up, oh no.
We gon' burn the whole house down.
Watch me stand in the line.
You're only serving lies.
You've got something to hide.
We gon' burn the whole house down.
We gon' burn the whole house down.
Should I hang my head low?
Should I bite my tongue?
Or should I march with every stranger.
From Twitter to get shit done?
Used to hang my head low.
Now I hear it loud.
Every stranger from Twitter is gonna burn this down.
Way up way up we go.
Been up and down that road.
Way up way up, oh no.
We gon' burn the whole house down.
Watch me stand in the line (whoa oh).
You're only serving lies (yeah).
You've got something to hide.
We gon' burn the whole house down.
Woah oh, yeah.
We gon' burn the whole house down.
We burn it down, we burn it down.
We gon' burn the whole house down
that is a good song
Even though the use of "Twitter" is outdated. It also kind of Still works.
Because the original users of Twitter have mostly left.
It's definitely very catchy and has relevant lyrics.
About half the songs on the new Sturgill Simpson/Johnny Blue Skies album (the other half are about sex)
The closer Ain't That A Bitch is pretty unambiguous.
So I bought a rechargeable karaoke machine. One with large wattage and a wireless microphone.
It has a strap so you can wear it like a messenger bag.
Thing is great for protests.
I use an old iPod with it.
And I let people use the mic to lead chants.
I bought it used on the eBay. Important thing is make sure it's at or near 30W. Otherwise it's not going to be very loud. I'll post a pic of mine but it's not made anymore and the newer models are 15W. Also it fits in a backpack. Barely but it does.
I got some of these songs from similar posts as yours. I try to keep variety on the playlist so everyone can enjoy the music.
Here you go
Burn the house down -ajr (I already made a separate comment for it)
Stop business as usual -kimmortal (hip hop) https://youtu.be/wHggKbN7on0
Guillotine- the coup (hip hop) https://youtu.be/ad2ldO-JG-E
Uprising -muse (indie) https://youtu.be/Y4R6k8_iIkE
Another day in America- kali uchis (pop. part is in Spanish, about immigrants) https://youtu.be/SNNKFZRGoyM
Revolution -the beatles https://youtu.be/BGLGzRXY5Bw
Eat the rich -aerosmith (rock) https://youtu.be/ZK__9UIN5gk
FDT -Yg (hiphop) https://youtu.be/BlIREcAu0PI
America -logic (hip hop) https://youtu.be/j3Pe0oUqFkw
Die -badflower (metal/punk?)-newish song about donny https://youtu.be/fqBzuioSFac
Fucked up- Macklemore https://youtu.be/sn9EKC9nqU4
Ugly nasty commie bitch -carsie Blanton (indie?) https://youtu.be/-tfH1nty62U
Burn the damn thing down -The black keys (indie?) https://youtu.be/ZF5VPD6-_Q0
Hostile government takeover (pop) https://youtu.be/PuWVgVkMiHE
We're not going to take it -twisted sisters (80s metal) https://youtu.be/PqQdbevaB-Q
Capitalism gonna kill us all - rathbone (indie) https://youtu.be/8GBmoXv8G8I
At peace -propoghandi (rock?) https://youtu.be/CDhTf3eaeoM
Small dick energy -mat ward (electronica) https://youtu.be/ahv63jUKVx0
Arrest the president -ice cube (hip hop) https://youtu.be/y9oUnC8JtXY
Thoughts and prayers -grandson (?) https://youtu.be/rWO_TW9AlBg
Fortunate son- credence clear water (70s rock?) https://youtu.be/ec0XKhAHR5I
Here are some punk ones
Hate to say I told you so -the hives https://youtu.be/Uz1Jwyxd4tE
Sabotage -beastie boys https://youtu.be/z5rRZdiu1UE
Gurilla radio -rage against the machine https://youtu.be/Rm1nCYOZB-s
Make America great again- pussy riot https://youtu.be/Y6JRhiVnrPg
Take the power back -Rage against the machine https://youtu.be/rMXlAJOQsss
American idiot -greenday https://youtu.be/Ee_uujKuJMI
Killing in the name of -rage against the machine https://youtu.be/T4XuU2loLi4
One nation-pinkshift https://youtu.be/6Vx5fex-OJI
Oh I forgot. Here is the speaker I take to protests.
yeah i really should buy a portable speaker because anti drag show protest had them and they were really loud
I checked and someone has this one on eBay. $45 with shipping..
This thing is hella loud.
I never can run it at full volume at protests.
Have yet to run out of battery either.
It does have a big rainbow led light on the front but you can turn it off to save power.
There are other brands too of course and there might be better options.
I do have a 15w anker speaker that's nice to pack to the beach or park or something but it can't get even half as loud as this green one does.
Plus the microphone sounds way better than those muddy megaphones. I Used it a lot more than I thought I would.
I felt like a news anchor. Every time I'd see someone trying to lead a chant or a speech id run over. Hand them the mic and hold up the speaker.
(Fyi The gray things on the mic are added. Protect it if it's dropped. They don't come with it)
Bad Religion, Propaghandi, Dropkick Murphys, Good Riddance, Thought Riot, Regan Youth, Crass, T.S.O.L., MDC, The Nerve Agents, Earth Crisis, Dead Kennedys, NOFX, Body Count, Pussy Riot, Death By Stereo, and Cattle Decapitation are all social-politically outspoken punk/hXc/metal bands that have plenty of songs that would fit your list.
Dropkick, Billy Bragg, Tom Morello, Eyes of Salt, and the Boss all have anti-ICE specific songs out recently.
Bella Ciao :)
Look up no$hu. "Fuck ICE ICE baby", "Against Occupation" and a bunch of his other songs. Check out Jesse Welles "Join ICE".
Upvote for Jesse Welles. I appreciate his music can be topical, but also humorous and chill. Maybe not the sort of protest songs you play to fire people up, but definitely ones that will get their message stuck in your head.
If you haven't heard of Carsie Blanton, give her a listen too!
Thanks for the rec!
always get irked by join ice by jesse welles because it kinda makes joining ice look good to the point were it kinda sounds like recruitment song.
the noshu is interesting
I mean, irony is kind of dead haha. No$hu slaps.
'Peace frogs' by: The Doors
Which Side Are You In? By Pete Seger. Not modern but itβs moving.
It's fine just interesting like past generations were really about protest songs. Artist now don't seem to do protest or social commentary
Doesn't necessarily work in an actual protest but https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jSZWslqjfPE&pp=ygUgd2hpY2ggc2lkZSBhcmUgeW91IG9uIHJlYmVsIGRpYXo%3D is pretty good and uses Which Side in the chorus.
RATM - Killing in the Name, and this one is particularly prescient right now with ICE roaming the streets given it was originally written to protest police brutality in response to the Rodney King riots.
RATM - Wake Up is also a good one as well.
If it's punk yer wantin, you'll want Dead Kennedys and MDC - both old bands (MDC is still kicking as I understand it, tho) but lots and lots of highly relevant stuff.
Notable: on their first LP, Millions Of Dead Cops, which came out in 1984 if I recall correctly, there is a trans-positive tune called America's So Straight. You wanna talk ahead of the curve...
- Waterparks - Ice
- Badflower - Machine Gun
- Seb Lowe - Don't say no to Hitler
- Moon Walker - You're next
- Grandson - Little White Lies
- Grandson - Brainrot
- Against me! - Baby, I'm an anarchist!
- Harris J - Hourriya
- Flanger Moose - Fascists don't have friends
The discographies of Grandson, Moon Walker, and Dropkick Murphys have a lot of good, recent, messages. Pussy Riot has a couple of generic and America themed songs as well. Otep has several, though they are more fueled by reaction than actual artistic talent.
I wouldn't rule out older titles from the Vietnam or Coal Wars/Battle of Blaire Mountain Era.
waterparks song is high energy but cursing i like the moon walker youre next. i do wish is was more explicit in class solidarity hourriya is fun i get the teto version of facists dont have friends
Why can't we be friends? by WAR
A few suggestions:
- Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
- RATM - Bulls on Parade
- Dead Kennedys - Kill the Poor
And for a more optimistic, but still defiant take, R.E.M.'s Living Well is the Best Revenge.
I added both of them. i like how solidarity forever is very clear
Nazi Punks Fuck Off - Dead Kennedys Freedom is a Verb - Daniel Kahn and the Painted Bird Color in Your Cheeks - The Mountain Goats
It's Okay (To Punch Nazis in The Face) - Cheap Perfume is a great one I heard the other night.
I'm Scum - IDLES Pretty much anything by Rage Against The Machine
This is the guy who wrote "867-5309" and "Perfect World" by Huey Lewis. He's also a friend of sorts, I got my dog from him and his wife. It's not famous but it's a decent tune, and anti-ICE as shit.
"I HATE RICH CUNTS" and "YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT POOR PEOPLE" by Mudrat
nice Australian band. tooks me a second to understand the lyrics
Think it's just the one guy actually. I really like his take on punk.
Two very different protest songs I heard this year
Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals - The Iron Wall
Hen Ogledd - Scales will fall
these songs are very free form, might need to grow on me
I like to think anything by jesse wells is appropriate but then there are some songs I just feel that much more in the modern age but are not necessarily good protest songs. rat in a cage, head like a hole, down with the sickness. Also many jethro tull songs.